Modeling Effects of a High‐Fat (Almonds) vs. High‐Carbohydrate (Graham Crackers) Snack on Metabolic Outcomes in College Freshmen

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Biomedical research has provided support for the benefits of consuming almonds, a high‐fat food. However, most of the studies to date have considered only adult populations (age 40+). The objective of the study was to model the impact of consuming a high‐fat almond snack vs. a high‐carbohydrate graham cracker (control) snack for 4–8‐weeks in college freshmen. Seventy‐three UC Merced freshmen (Age: 18–19 years, BMI: 18–45 kg/m2) underwent a dietary intervention for eight weeks. Thirty‐eight participants consumed 2 ounces (325 kcal) of almonds and 35 participants consumed an isoenergetic control snack of graham crackers for 8 weeks. Anthropometric, biochemical and clinical measurements were conducted before the study began and at the fourth and the eighth week of the intervention. Several multivariate models were generated to model the effects of chronic almond and graham cracker snacking on the aforementioned outcomes. The most profound effect was the retention of high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and improvements in glucose tolerance in the almond snack group in comparison to the graham cracker snack group. This suggests that chronic almond snacking has the potential to improve the metabolic profile independent of profound changes in body mass or adiposity. We continue to perform the robust multivariate analyses factoring in BMI and sex effects.
Support or Funding Information
Almond Board of California, MARC U STAR, and UROC
This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.